Femoral saphenous vein bypass in a newborn.

This is believed to be the youngest patient to undergo a saphenous vein bypass for iatrogenic trauma of the right superficial femoral artery. The infant had emergency right heart catheterisation and Rashkind septostomy for severe desaturation due to transposition of the great arteries. During the exposure of the saphenous vein, the superficial femoral artery was accidentally severed at it's origin. An attempt to restore the circulation by end-to-end anastomosis failed and resulted in persistent limb ischemia for over 4 hours. The baby was reoperated upon, the damaged part of the superficial femoral artery was resected and a saphenous vein graft interposed between the common and the distal superficial femoral artery.